Improvement in gab-seats and couches



I..W. LAMB.

GAR SEAT AND ooUoH.

Patented Sept. 3,'1867,

t Nmm Z3-avenge?- QZM, @ff MM @nite-ii tutes letent @ffice ISAA-C W.LAMB, OF SALEM, MICHIGAN Letters Patent No. 58,368, dated September 3,1867.`

IMPROVEMENT IN GAR-SETS AND COUCHES.

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TO ALL WIIOM IT MAY CON CERN:

' Bc it known that I, ISAAC W. LAMB, (post oiice address, Northville,Michigan,) have invented a new and useful Improvement in Seats andCouches for Railroad Cars and other uses; and I do hereby declare that'thefollowing is such a clear and exact description thereof as willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification, in which- Scction l shows the invention ready for use asseats, and

Section 2 shows'thc same ren'ly to be used for couches.

The entire drawing is a side elevation of two sections of seats andcouches made according to inyinvention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothsections.

My invention consi-sts in an improved method of connecting the upper andlower couches, so that both assume the proper position for couchestogether, and 'vice versa. It also consists in the means employed for'Achanging the whole from one position to theother. It also consists inthe method of confining the seats in position to'he employed as seats.

A A' represent the seats, having backs, B B', hinged to the same, sothat the backs may drop or swing hack or down as the seats are movedtowards each other, and thus the backs and seats combined form the lowercouch, vss in sce. 2. D D' is the Upper cuu'eh, which may be ull'onegand'form 'n double upper'couch, or-it may be made in two parts, :1sin the present case, and the back portion D so attached to its supportas to occupy a higher position when used as a couch than is occupied bythe frontportion D of the same, and thus form two single couches. C C C'C' are rods or equivalents connecting the upper couch or couches to thebacks ofthe seats, being pivoted at one end to the upper couch orcouches, and at the other to the seat-backs B B', asshown. The result ofso connecting the upper couch to the seat-backsis, that as the seidbacks drop back and downinto apositiou to be used for a couch the uppercouches will also descend into proper position. In the present caseLhave made the upper couch in two parts, as willbe seen in sec. 2; andin order that both may occupythe same plano when elevated, as in sec. 1,and dil'crent planes when lowered, as in sec, 2, I connect the hackportion or D of the upper couch to the seatlhaclts hy rods C', madelonger than the rods C,.and I then pivot the lower ends of the rods C"just as much nearer lthe hinges u (that connect the seat-backs B B' tothe seats A A') as the said rodsC' are longer than the rods C. By `thearrangement just described (having the rods C' longer than the rods C,and then pivoting the rods C' 'just so much nearer the hinges 92,) I amenabled to have two upper single berths, and at the same time tohaveboth upper berths elevated to the same pla-ne 'when the seatn backs areraised, a result that. isv evidently desirable to be obtained.- In u cara portion of the upper couches may be made thus in' two parts, and cachpart be supported by a separate rod, and another portion ofthe uppercouches may be made whole, forming one double couch, so as to give somesingle and some double upper couches in the same oar. E H are framesthat separate the sections and supportthc rollers J J' and the windlass0.l v' v v (shown in dotted lines) are supports or stops to support thebacks of the seats B B' when in a horizontal position, as in sec. 2. bare arms or levers firmly attached to the under or hack sides of theseat-bncl s B B', und extending down or forward under theseats A A', asshown. o o' are rollers, or their equivalents, attached under the seatsnear the door, but to the frames of the seats. a a' are cords connectingthe arms or levers bb" of the sent-hacks to thc windlass O.- The cord-a'is attached under the scat to the arm In', and passes under roller o',then around thc-roller J', then across the section and under roller d,and up to the windlass 0. This cord may, if desired, pass aroundsuitable rollers or pulleys up`over the upper couch, and along the topofthe car and down to the windlass O. The cord a passes under rollers oand J and up to the windlass 0. The windlassO is nttached to the frameHin any suitablemanner and place, and is provided with n. ratchet, asshown, such ratchet being secured, when desired, by the pawl s. m m arefriction-rollers attached to the upper edge of the backs B B', andLworking against the frame Il or its equivalent. Their use will befurther shown hereafter. e'e are curtains hung from the top of the car,and attached to the ends of the upper couch or couches, so that theyseparate the upper couch of one section from the upper couch of anothersection when the couches are in use, while, when the couches areelevated, as in sec. 1, the space before closed by such curtains is nowopempermitting e. free circulation of nirithrough the car. The seats A'move back and forth on suitable guides, r, (shown only inseed-1,) andthe said guides r may also form a .cover or shield for the cord a'.

The method of changing the lower seats into a couch and lowering theupper couch is as follows: The pawl s is released and the seats aremoved toward each other, when the backs B B' will assume the positionshown in sec. 2of the drawing, and the upper couch or couches willdcsccndvto their proper position. To change-tlic lower couch back intoseats and elevate the upper couch, it is only necessary to turn lthecrank p, and thuswind up the cords a' and a on the windlass '0. As thecrank is turned the cords a and a draw down on tho arms b and andconsequently elevate the backs B B. The friction-rollers m m,vworking-against.the frames H, prevent the backs from binding againstthe said frames HL As th'e crank is turned still farther on, the arms bb come against the rollers o o', or other suitable stops, and then theseats lare drawn 'apart until they assume tho position shown in sec. 1.As the arms I: b are now against the-rollers o o', it isA evident thatthe backs BB are rmly held in an upright position, as such arms preventtheir tipping forward. When the seats are drawn apart,

,as shown in sec. 1, the pawl s dropping into the teeth of the ratchetretains the seats in place, as the windlass -cannot turn back to releasethe cords g a wound on it. By the arrangement of the hinged'bncks B B',the

arms b In', and the cords aand a', it will be seen that the lower couchmay be changed almost instantly into seats. Byv connecting the uppercouch or couchesvt the seat-backs, as here shown, the said upper couchesare raised up out of the way by the same act that changes the lowercouch -into seats. Thus the whole change is effected with greatfacility, and a grievous source of annoyance to passengers is removed.The same device, with slight modifications, may be employed on 'board ofvessels, thereby largely increasing the available space for use in thestate-rooms.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is 1. I claim the backs B, hinged to theseats, and connected byrods to upper movable berths constructed andarranged as described.

2. The arms b b', in vcombination with the movable backs, as and for thepurpose set forth. 3. In combination with the arms b b and backs, Iclaim the arrangement ci' cords, rollers, and pulleys, for the purposeset forth. i

4. I claim thestops o o, in combination with the seat-framoand arms bb.'

5.- I claim the upper couches D D', attached to the seat-backs by longand short rods, all constructed and arranged'as described, andfor thepurpose set forth.

6. In combination with the upper couches, supportedV und operated asdescribed, I claim theurtins e e,

asand for the purpose set forth;

ISAAC W. LAMB.

Witnesses:

EMMA SnvnnANpn, T. E. Jomvs.

